Citation Nr: 1003775
Decision Date: 01/26/10 Archive Date: 02/16/10
DOCKET NO. 08-13 449 ) DATE
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On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville,
Tennessee
THE ISSUE
Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of
the United States
WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL
Appellant and Appellant's Spouse
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Donna D. Ebaugh, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1966 to March
1970.
This matter is on appeal from the Nashville, Tennessee,
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).
The Veteran testified before the undersigned in November
2009. A transcript of the hearing is of record.
The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management
Center (AMC) in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant
if further action is required.
REMAND
Unfortunately, a remand is required in this case. Although
the Board sincerely regrets the additional delay, it is
necessary to ensure that there is a complete record upon
which to decide the Veteran's claims so that he is afforded
every possible consideration. VA has a duty to make
reasonable efforts to assist the claimant in obtaining
evidence necessary to substantiate the claim for the benefits
sought, unless no reasonable possibility exists that such
assistance would aid in substantiating the claim. 38
U.S.C.A. § 5103A(a) (West 2002 & Supp. 2009); 38 C.F.R. §
3.159(c), (d) (2009).
First, at the Veteran's hearing before the Board, he
indicated that he was recently granted Social Security
Administration disability benefits for PTSD, among other
issues. Under 38 U.S.C.A § 5103A(c)(3) (West 2002), VA is
required to obtain relevant records held by any Federal
department or agency that the claimant adequately identifies
and authorizes the Secretary to obtain. See Diorio v.
Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 193, 199-200 (2006).
In this regard, a copy of any Social Security Administration
award decision and records underlying that decision have not
been obtained. See Lind v. Principi, 3 Vet. App. 493 (1992);
Murinscak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 363 (1992). Although not
dispositive as to an issue that must be resolved by VA, any
relevant findings made by the Social Security Administration
are evidence which must be considered. See White v.
Principi, 243 F. 3d 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2001); Wensch v.
Principi, 15 Vet. App. 362 (2001). These records are
necessary for review before a decision may be made regarding
his claims and an attempt to obtain these records should be
undertaken.
Further, in order to ensure that all records are available,
any outstanding VA outpatient treatment records related to
his aforementioned disorder should be obtained.
Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain VA treatment records from the
VA Medical Center in Mountain Home,
Tennessee for the period from March 2008
to the present. Obtain all VA treatment
records related to psychiatric treatment
from the VA outpatient clinic in Bristol,
Virginia. Any negative response should
be noted in the claims file.
2. Obtain a copy of any Social Security
Administration decision granting
disability benefits to the Veteran. All
the medical treatment records from the
Social Security Administration that were
used in considering the Veteran's claim
for disability benefits should be
obtained and associated with the claims
file.
3. Review the Veteran's claims file and
ensure that the foregoing development
actions have been conducted and completed
in full, and that no other notification
or development action, in addition to
those directed above, is required. If
further action is required, it should be
undertaken prior to further claims
adjudication.
4. Readjudicate the issues on appeal, to
include any additional evidence obtained
as a result of this Remand that may not
have been previously considered.
If any benefits sought on appeal remain
denied, the Veteran and his
representative should be furnished an
appropriate Supplemental Statement of the
Case and be provided an opportunity to
respond. An appropriate period of time
should be allowed for response.
The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and
argument on the matter the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky
v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999).
This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law
requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of
Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims for additional development or other
appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner.
See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2009).
_________________________________________________
L. M. BARNARD
Acting Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the
nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a
decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.
38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2009).